Not quite two years ago, President Barack Obama signed into law a sweeping update
to whistleblower protections for civilian federal employees.

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act expanded the
authority of both the Office of Special Counsel and the Merit Systems Protection
Board to review employees' claims of agency wrongdoing and made it easier to
discipline agency officials who retaliate against whistleblowers.

Both agencies have seen their caseloads skyrocket since the law went into effect.

But are the growing claims of retaliation evidence of a crackdown on
whistleblowing employees or that more employees actually feel comfortable coming
forward to report agency misconduct?

"If people can come forward and report waste, fraud or abuse — or health and
safety problems — it makes our government stronger," said Carolyn Lerner,
head of the OSC, in an interview with Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily
Kopp. "When we have an environment and an atmosphere where employees
are rewarded instead of punished for coming forward, I think that creates a better
culture and it certainly creates a more effective government."

Still, an exclusive Federal News Radio survey reveals a wide chasm of trust remains when it comes to
feds blowing the whistle at work. Just 16 percent of respondents to the survey
said they felt protected enough to report waste, fraud or abuse at their agencies
even with the recent changes in law.

Lerner said OSC has seen an incredible
uptick in its caseload over the last year or so as more employees come to the
agency alleging that they've been retaliated against for reporting agency
misconduct.

Very often, "after somebody blows the whistle, the terms or conditions of their
employment change," Lerner said. "It can be something like a hostile work
environment. It can be up to and including termination."

So far, in fiscal 2014, the agency has received more than 1,700 complaints of
prohibited personnel practices, about half of which involve retaliation for
whistleblowing, she said.

Lerner's agency wasn't the only one to be hit with an increased workload following
recent changes in the law.

Whistleblower claims filed with MSPB have more than doubled in recent years,
according to the board's chairwoman, Susan Tsui Grundmann.

But there may be more than the new law at work that explains the rise in cases,
she said.

"The reason why I suspect we're seeing more claims may have less to do with
changes in the law and more to do with a greater awareness of a federal employee's
rights to file in this area," she told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily
Kopp.

For one thing, whistleblower organizations and good-government groups have helped
raise awareness of whistleblowing concerns, she said.

Agencies are also attempting to do their part.

Susan Grundmann

"At the same time, agencies are a lot sharper in terms of getting the word out,
training people [on] what's protected, what's not protected and your venue to
redress your claims," Grundmann said.

Do agencies' whistleblower practices pass muster?

OSC runs training workshops to brief managers on their responsibilities under the
whistleblower laws and to educate employees about their rights, including the fact
that retaliation against whistleblowers is a prohibited personnel practice.

The ultimate goal of OSC's outreach efforts is to change the conversation —
the climate — around whistleblowing.

"No one likes to be criticized; no one likes to feel like they are being called
out for doing something wrong," Lerner said. "But the more we can create a climate
where disclosures are viewed as ultimately a good thing, as an employee trying to
do what's right for the agency and for the government and, frankly, for our
country, the better things will be. If we can help agencies create that climate of
openness where employees feel like coming forward as valued, that will help
trust."

That will also have a very practical impact, she suggested.

"I'm convinced that more education and outreach will help prevent
misunderstandings and mistakes and, ultimately, result in fewer complaints needing
to be filed in the first place."

Moazed said the trainings emphasize that education is an essential step in
preventing whistleblower retaliation — and other prohibited practices
— and that such education must start at the top.

"So, if the head of the agency and the head of the components make it very
significant that their supervisors be trained and train others on the prohibitions
against whistleblower retaliation, that's something that's going to generate
interest and understanding throughout the agency," she told In Depth with Francis Rose.

'There are no real protections in place'

But despite the recent changes to law and the outreach efforts across government,
it appears many would-be whistleblowers still don't feel protected enough to
disclose potential wrongdoing. Just 14 percent of respondents to an exclusive
Federal News Radio survey agreed that there are enough protections in place for
whistleblowers to feel safe to report waste, fraud and abuse.

"In print and in theory, yes, there are enough protections in place for federal
whistleblowers," one respondent said. "In reality, there is not because of the
real possibility of retaliation from management and/or the agency."

Another respondent presented an even gloomier perspective.

"There are no real
protections in place. It is all lip service. All the employees who have come
forward in recent memory have their careers destroyed ... or they were
punished with career-ending reassignments."

While fewer than 22 percent of respondents said they had personally reported
waste, fraud or abuse at their agency, 44 percent of those who did said they were
retaliated against in some form.

Those findings are similar to a 2011 MSPB
report on whistleblower retaliation. The report indicated that while
employees' perceptions of agency wrongdoing had actually declined between 1992
— when MSPB first studied the issue — to 2011, the overall perception
that employees would be retaliated against for speaking out had not.

About 36 percent of respondents said they were retaliated against or threatened
with retaliation for reporting agency misconduct, according to the MSPB study.